Penn State Football: 6 Burning questions for Nittany Lions’ offseason

Question #2 – How will Penn State Football’s running back depth chart shake itself out?

This is a situation that is very similar to the quarterback position, except that a running back depth chart is not as concrete as a quarterback depth chart, as 2-3 backs regularly see meaningful carries in a given game.

Keyvone Lee is the top returning back in terms of production. Devyn Ford and Caziah Holmes, who have seen meaningful carries in the past, but saw their workloads decrease in 2021, also return.

Joining them is a pair of excellent freshmen backs in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

Where do these freshmen get plugged into the rotation to begin spring practice? Will they begin as the fourth and fifth backs? Or will one (or both) of them jump some of the returning running backs?

This will be another interesting position group to keep an eye on in Beaver Stadium for the spring game, as the top 2-3 backs will probably be playing for the blue team, just like at quarterback.

Regardless of which running back lands where on the depth chart to begin the season, they will get their opportunities in games to perhaps leapfrog their peers in the rotation and earn more touches.

However, it will still be interesting to see where each one lands by the end of the offseason.

Does Keyvone Lee hold on to the number one spot to begin the season, or does Nicholas Singleton immediately live up the hype and earn the top spot before the season even kicks off?

Does Kaytron Allen, who is overshadowed by Singleton in the 2022 class, prove his value to the staff and earn a spot in the primary rotation by the end of fall camp? And can Ford or Holmes take a big step forward this offseason and find themselves back as one of the regulars in the backfield?

For a position group that was talked about as perhaps one of the best in the Big Ten heading into last season, only to be utterly disappointing, this is a crucial offseason. Ja’Juan Seider certainly has his work cut out for him over the next seven months.